(1) Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to weapons system control panel trainers and testers and more particularly, to a land based submarine weapons system simulator which interfaces with a submarine weapons system control panel, for simulating, on land, the mechanical and electrical features of a submarine's weapons system including weapon firing sequences, and which further allows for weapons system control panel testing and operator training.
(2) Description Of The Prior Art
Control and monitoring of the multiplicity of weapons launch system electrical and mechanical conditions on board a submarine is performed utilizing a control panel which monitors the conditions in the submarine's weapons launching tubes and associated support systems. Such tube control panels (TCP) are complex pieces of electrical apparatus which are expensive to build. These control panels must therefore be extensively tested both periodically once in service as well as before being placed into service. Additionally, since these units are expensive, faults or malfunctions must be isolated and the faulty component(s) repaired or replaced. The complexity of the tube control panels requires the use of skilled and experienced service technicians in order to isolate and repair any faults discovered. Further, given the complexities of the tube control panel, operators must be trained by providing them with many hours of hands-on training.
In the prior art, training of maintenance or service personnel was performed by inserting pre-faulted modules into the tube control panels. These pre-faulted modules were designed to inject a known hardware fault in the control panel. The student was then required to identify the symptoms of the fault, and troubleshoot the source of the problem within the control panel.
The need to constantly insert such pre-faulted modules into the tube control panel, however, was a time consuming task. Moreover, the tube control panel would often become unreliable due to the constant insertion and removal of modules from the system. Most importantly, given the high cost of the tube control panel and its modules, only a limited number of prefaulted modules were manufactured. This greatly limited the types of faults which could be injected or simulated, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the training provided to the maintenance personnel.
Additionally, in order to train tube control panel operators, the prior art training centers had to be equipped with a complete weapons system launch console. The weapons launch console (WLC) is also a very expensive and specialized apparatus which itself requires an additional operator in order to interface the device with and thereby train a tube control panel operator.
Accordingly, what is required is an inexpensive, land based, submarine control panel tester which allows for control panel operation testing as well as operator and system maintenance training. Additionally, what is required is a submarine weapons system simulator which allows the system to interface with and simulate all the mechanical systems and devices of a submarine weapons system, as well as simulation of the weapons firing sequence and it's attendant effects on the weapons firing system and tube control panel.